Milton Meltzer | Criticism

[The Jewish Americans is] a thoughtful and well-researched book [that] presents the history of the Jews in America through their own letters, diaries, and recollections. From a soldier's account of a skirmish with the British in 1776 to a description of an American Jew's life on a contemporary kibbutz in Israel, a wide spectrum of experience is reflected, both American and specifically Jewish. A Jewish slave trader ordering his captain to be particularly "'careful of your vessel and slaves, and be as frugal as possible'" is counterbalanced by a rebel who joined John Brown's anti-slavery forces. In the 1880s the great immigrations began; there were high expectations and the reality of wretched jobs. Jews report of service in both world wars and share the nightmare of the Holocaust. Almost every passage resounds with a will to survive, a passion for education, and a shrewd and ready wit. One finds...